BY LESLEY HASTINGS

Following on from the critically acclaimed “Landmarks” album, released in 2023,  Texas-based Helene Cronin’s latest album  “Maybe New Mexico” is available this Friday, March 7th. Recorded at Sputnik Sound in Nashville where she worked alongside Grammy winning producer Mitch Dane and a raft of stellar musicians, it really is a powerful and thought provoking body of work. 

Sonically a deceptively gentle album, Helene is not afraid to shy away from tackling hard hitting subjects, and has the uncanny knack of writing songs which are both personal and relatable. 

Throughout the twelve tracks she observes, reflects and questions in a way that put my brain in overdrive from first listen, indeed from the stunning opening track “Copperhill“, which examines the price we pay for so-called “progress”. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Rpk4ctDiPM

It was a pleasure to chat to Helene recently via Zoom from her home in Dallas…..Sunday lunchtime there, and she had managed to grab a burger after attending church…..to ask more about the release in particular and her songwriting in general including having her song “Over Missing You” recorded by Cody Johnson last year! 

I started off by asking what her feelings were in the run up to release day, as I was aware it had been a long wait as the album was “done and dusted” last Summer…..

“We were finished in July, I had copies in hand by August, and have had to sit on it but I’m so excited for Friday! Playing the whole game of releasing singles, trying to get Spotify algorithms working, is agonising to me! As soon as I’m done with a record I’m ready for the world to hear it!”

I mentioned it was more stripped back, production -wise, than “Landmarks” which puts the lyrics to the fore…..did the songs dictate that approach, or did she set out to make a more acoustic-sounding album from the get-go this time? 

“The latter, I wanted it to be stripped down, there’s no electric guitar this time, and not the super layered vocals we did on “Landmarks”…..it’s closer to what a person would hear if they came to see me in concert”

As a prolific songwriter, how did she decide on the tracks? Were they a mix from her back catalogue and some written especially for this project? 

“The song choices came about because I keep on thinking what do I really want to and should be playing in concert…..what do I want to be on there in case I never get to make another album for whatever reason? I think “Visitors” is probably the newest song, “God Stopped By” the oldest (from 2014 maybe?) yet any time I played it out it got such a reaction I knew I had to put it on an album! With “Visitors” being such a new song I thought maybe I shouldn’t put in on here, stick to older ones, but I’m closing almost every show with it and it needs to be out in the world as we navigate some troubled times and work out how we treat each other, speak to each other, help each other. I think it says all that without seeming like a sermon.”

I remembered reading somewhere that there was an element of truth in all Helene’s songs, could she comment on that? 

“Yes, I would say there’s always a kernel of emotional truth, something that sparked the song, and then the narrative may or may not stick to the actual facts …..but as long as the feeling and initial core idea is there, that’s the truth part. Unless it’s an autobiographical song like “Rifleman”…..that’s pretty factual, everything in that song” 

I wanted to know why “Maybe New Mexico” was her selection for the title track …..

“When I look at the list of titles, any number could have been the  choice, “Visitors” ,” Dear Life”, “People” (I actually thought of taking a line from that one ….’Storytellers and Ocean Crossers’). But what’s unique about “Maybe New Mexico” is it’s not a cliche….the song isn’t necessarily about New Mexico geographically but I think that song is all about longing, moving on, heartbreak, transience, and those themes recur throughout the record. But really I just thought it was the most unique, interesting title!” 

I had noticed it was a co-write with two of her more frequent collaborators, Scott Sean White and Lisa Carver……was it easier to write with people she felt at ease opening up to, who maybe shared her beliefs and values? 

“Yes, belief systems can be different but the thing I look for is personal chemistry. Who do I love to be in a room with? Lisa is definitely one of those, it’s always an honour to hang out with her, we always have a good time, deep heartfelt conversations. And Scott is just one of by best friends, we’ve grown up together in this songwriting and artistry thing. And also important is trusting their level of craft. I can bring a really difficult idea to them and know that I can trust them with it, they’ll hammer away at it with me ’til it’s right. Even if we leave the session and think it’s done I can go back to them (and anybody on this record) and say hey, should we do this or that ….that’s the type of person I want to write with . Lyrics are really where the magic gets done “. 

On the other hand…..what is it like when Helene gets pushed out of her comfort zone with a new collaborator…..and are there any examples on this album ?

“Yes, ‘Copperhill’  was a brand new co-write….with Lydia Simonds. I met her at a Grand Ole Opry after party and we just kind of connected around a table in a noisy bar and figured out we had some common interests. So she came over to write, we were throwing titles out and nothing was sticking so I asked her to tell me about her family and where she was born…..so she mentioned her Mom had died when she was nineteen and she was buried in a town called Copperhill. Just that name got me! I asked her to tell me more and knew there was a story there . So it very much came from her background but isn’t really her story, it’s the story of what happened to that town as a result of copper mining. It was so interesting to write and research “.

As Helene has had a lot of success with her songs being cut by other artists (including her first major label cut last year when Cody Johnson recorded “Over Missing You“) I wondered if she immediately knew if she would keep a song for herself or offer it out there when she’d finished writing it? 

“I would never keep a song for myself tho I know some writers do. Part of the problem is I’m not signed to a publishing deal right now, so sometimes the only avenue for me to get a song out there is to record it myself. I would be happy for anyone to cut any of my songs! It was such an honour to get that Cody Johnson cut!” 

Helene had already touched on “Rifleman” which is one example of a solo write from the album…..a deeply personal song paying tribute to her father, “a veteran with war-scars, internal and external”. Did she feel any extra responsibility when writing this one, not only to her family but to all the other veterans and their loved ones affected with PTSD? 

“I have to say it’s a story I never really told anybody….possibly just  once in a councillor’s office …and that was maybe to protect my family, my father and his reputation. One of the things that helped me was that the song came through as a prompt when I was in a group with some other artists…..the prompt was ‘Winchester’ so when I googled it the minute I read the word ‘rifle’ that memory was triggered . And I went ‘oh, crap, I have to write that!’. So I just sat down and it all poured out in an afternoon. But I was afraid to play it for people because it was a tough story, with a lot of people involved other than me. But I sent it to my friend Scott who freaked out over it, said it was maybe one of the best songs I’ve ever written……I didn’t have a clue, all I felt is when I sang it. Then I played it at a show, another friend/co-writer Cameron Havens was there, and I told him I didn’t want anyone to think badly of my dad and he said that honestly he felt more sympathy for my father than he did for me ……that was such a release! From guilt or feeling disloyal. And then I’ve had veterans who have heard it and they say ‘I’m the one everybody had to take guns away from’, largely because a lot of them are suicidal. So I feel that the song, while the details are mine, I don’t own that emotion. I don’t even own that story any more, people put their story in it and that’s the biggest success for a song can ask for. That it can be healing, that someone can find comfort or understanding from it”.

I wondered if Helene had ever written with veterans, as I know writers including Mary Gauthier and Erin Enderlinhave? 

“Yes I have, with an organisation called CreativeVets, and the most recent time was an all female group of writers and veterans ….we wrote a song called “Grow Old Alone” which Big Machine put out . It came out of one of the veterans experiences of losing her best friend / fellow veteran to suicide. It’s very powerful and I feel a kinship with the military community here.” 

I was wondering which of the album’s songs  not yet available Helene is most intrigued to get people’s reactions to ? She actually picked a favourite of mine co-written with the fabulous Cheley Tackett! 

“I think ‘Switzerland’ might be one. That’s the first song Cheley and I wrote together just the two of us. It came out of a conversation we had in my house in Nashville, another writer was there and she was updating us on her divorce and they were talking about friends and how hard it was for them to choose sides and why did they even have to choose …..I just looked at her and said ‘can’t anyone just be Switzerland?’. I just tucked the idea away and a few months later Cheley reached out and said she wanted to try us just writing together so I got to work on that idea and had most of the chorus written by the time she came over. Then we just got to work and hashed those verses out together, I loved the process, we just clicked and both of us brought our best into the room. When you co-write it’s not your line or their line that wins, it’s the best line for the song that wins“.

My final question was how Helene would be marking release day…..unlike many artists I couldn’t see a big show scheduled for that day? She mainly plays acoustic singer/songwriter venues, writers rounds, song swaps all of which I told her we love here in UK if she ever decides to visit! 

“April 10th I’m planning a CD release show in Nashville at The Local,  a couple of others are playing with me …..it just took a bit of time to find a date we could all make! And I will do a release show in Dallas but my husband and I are getting ready to move home but there’s no hurry with that. But I will be happy on Friday! I would love to play in the UK and Europe but I just don’t know how to put a tour like that together…..I’ve played Denmark twice and have a handful of fans there and loved it. If you have any contacts I could use help! ” 

I promised I’d put my thinking cap on, put some feelers out…..so if anyone reading this can help please shout! 

“Maybe New Mexico” will be available to stream via all the usual platforms on 7th March. 

CDs available now , vinyl coming soon, plus all artist information at  https://helenecronin.com/music